Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs

Well-know motivational author Stephen Covey left behind an incredible legacy. Covey was a favorite author of mine and I’d like to share an article about one of his lesser known books, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness…

The 8th Habit is about moving from being effective to being great.

The 8th habit is: Find your Voice & Inspire Others to find Theirs. The essence of this habit is that you will find your voice when you can say that you are 100% involved in what you are doing with your life. By 100% involvement, what is meant is that your body, mind, heart and spirit are all engaged in the adventure – whatever that is for you.

The idea is very simple. Whatever you are doing right now with your life, ask yourself these questions. Is it serving my body, mind, heart and spirit? In other words, is it serving your bodily needs: does it allow you to make a good living; does it more-than pay the bills; does it feed and clothe you and your family and provide you with a lovely home?

Secondly, is it serving your need for mental stimulation: do you find it truly stimulating, engaging and challenging? Thirdly, is it serving your emotional needs: do you just love it and are you passionate about it? Finally, does it serve your spiritual needs: do you believe it is the right thing for you to be doing with your life? If you can answer those four questions relating to body, mind, heart and spirit with a resounding ‘yes’, then it can be said that you have ‘found your voice’.

Covey says that the reality in business today is that there are very many people who have not found their voices or perhaps they have lost their voices. The result of this can be seen everywhere. People may go to work just to earn money but do not really put their creativity, talent and intelligence into the job.

To find your voice, you need to examine your natural talent – you are good at something! Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. You must find out what that is. You must find out what you absolutely love to do. You must find out what really interests you. And you must listen to the confirming inner voice of your conscience that tells you what is the right thing for YOU.

Great leaders have always inspired us to ‘find’ ourselves – to find our own ‘voices’ and  that is the essence of greatness. People who have truly found their ‘voices’ go on to become great. I hope that you will invest the time to discover your own greatness.

Stephen Covey has encouraged millions around the world to find their voice and inspire others, which is really what our industry is all about… helping others to achieve their personal and financial dreams.

Source: White Dove Books

If you won the lottery, what would you want to be spending your time doing if monetary considerations were no longer an issue? Leave a comment below.